Lacking in everything but length. (Fiction. 14 & up)
Sixteen and never-been-kissed Elle is unprepared for the fallout from her brief stint working in a kissing booth.
When Noah turns up as her first and only customer at the carnival booth, their kiss is more than either could have predicted. Unfortunately, as her best friend Lee’s older brother, Noah is off-limits. Elle’s resolve to honor this quickly crumbles when Noah confesses his feelings for her. Determined not to hurt her friendship with Lee, Elle demands that their romance stay a secret. Naturally, their clandestine activity is soon discovered, resulting in hurt feelings all around. Furthermore, jealous, narcissistic and with a tendency toward violence, Noah is far from the perfect boyfriend that Elle envisioned. Cardboard characters, a predictable plot and painful dialogue are only a few of the problems plaguing this too-familiar story. While Elle and Noah’s romance is sufficiently steamy, readers will grow tired of the couple’s incessant bickering. Elle’s girl-next-door persona is endearing, but her continuing naïveté about Noah’s true nature in the face of mounting evidence is implausible. The overlarge cast of secondary characters doing their best to populate a featureless setting is confusing. Initially presented on Wattpad and picked up with much hoopla by Random House, this unfortunate debut from a young author is in desperate need of a firmer editorial hand.
Lacking in everything but length. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-385-37868-0
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2013
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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